Kindergarten Science: Inquiring Minds Want to Know
Inquiry Task #1: For your grade / course, identify the "generic" inquiry-based skills you currently employ with your students.
Kindergarten conducts directed inquiry science experiments. Materials are given, task is specified, questions are asked and answered.
Inquiry Task #2: List the units that currently are taught in which inquiry skills appear.
Apple Unit: Corresponding Story: Miss Bindergarten Takes a Field Trip
Formulating Questions and Hypothesizing Planning and Critiquing of Investigations
Seasons: Corresponding Story: Bear Snores On or Bed for The Winter
Formulating Questions and Hypothesizing Planning and Critiquing of Investigations Conducting Investigations
Seeds:
Corresponding Story: Seeds Formulating Questions and Hypothesizing Conducting Investigations
The 5 Senses: Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Formulating Questions Hypothesizing
Possible Additional Units:
Matter: Corresponding Story:Life In The Ocean
Matter still exists even when it is not seen.
Dissolving salt in water. The mass of the water will keep the egg afloat.
A
Inquiry Task #3: Brain-storm ideas for how your current units or activities can be made more inquiry-based.
Apple Unit: Including a piece on living and non-living and explaining why things are living or non living would allow us to include Developing and Evaluating Explanations.
Seasons: Students could choose an object outdoors, tree, brook, etc. and visit the same object during the 4 seasons. Before going outside, the class could discuss how the weather conditions etc. have changed and what they think that object will look like. After the observation, students can discuss what they saw and what may have caused these changes.
Time to explore different scientific materials, magnifying glasses, magnets. Including sinking and floating in science instead of math so that students can learn what makes an object sink and float and then try objects out on their own.
Inquiry Task #1: For your grade / course, identify the "generic" inquiry-based skills you currently employ with your students.
Kindergarten conducts directed inquiry science experiments. Materials are given, task is specified, questions are asked and answered.
Inquiry Task #2: List the units that currently are taught in which inquiry skills appear.
Apple Unit:
Corresponding Story: Miss Bindergarten Takes a Field Trip
Formulating Questions and Hypothesizing
Planning and Critiquing of Investigations
Seasons:
Corresponding Story: Bear Snores On or Bed for The Winter
Formulating Questions and Hypothesizing
Planning and Critiquing of Investigations
Conducting Investigations
Seeds:
Corresponding Story: Seeds
Formulating Questions and Hypothesizing
Conducting Investigations
The 5 Senses: Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Formulating Questions Hypothesizing
Possible Additional Units:
Matter: Corresponding Story: Life In The Ocean
Matter still exists even when it is not seen.
Dissolving salt in water. The mass of the water will keep the egg afloat.
A
Inquiry Task #3: Brain-storm ideas for how your current units or activities can be made more inquiry-based.
Apple Unit: Including a piece on living and non-living and explaining why things are living or non living would allow us to include Developing and Evaluating Explanations.
Seasons: Students could choose an object outdoors, tree, brook, etc. and visit the same object during the 4 seasons. Before going outside, the class could discuss how the weather conditions etc. have changed and what they think that object will look like. After the observation, students can discuss what they saw and what may have caused these changes.
Time to explore different scientific materials, magnifying glasses, magnets. Including sinking and floating in science instead of math so that students can learn what makes an object sink and float and then try objects out on their own.
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